The Taranaki Māori language revitalisation organisation has won an award for the second year in a row for its efforts to retain the region's unique dialect.
Te Reo o Taranaki's new kaupapa Māori oral history and archiving certificate course has been given the community based programme of the year Tāngata Whenua award.
The course, which was first delivered in 2014, and is delivered in a wānanga, or workshop style, draws on the equipment and collections housed in Te Reo o Taranaki's new community archive Te Pūtē Routiriata.
Te Reo o Taranaki's board chair, Puna Wano-Bryant, said drawing from the past and realising the evolving nature of the language were two key things her organisation recognised.
"Preserving existing examples of Taranaki reo and tikanga, and creating new ones, is essential to revitalising our unique version of Māori language," Ms Wano-Bryant said.
"Equipping people throughout our communities to join in that work hugely boosts our capacity to gather and care for these resources."
Students apply their learning to a real-life project from within their own iwi, hapū and whānau, or to one of Te Pūtē Routiriata's own projects.
Dozens of photographs, audio recordings and manuscript items have been digitised, and hundreds of items previously adrift have been catalogued as well as many hours of new oral history recorded.
Te Reo o Taranaki was also awarded Provider of the Year - Tangata Whenua in the Adult and Community Education Aotearoa annual awards in 2013, and the top community prize in the Maori Language Awards in 2011 and 2012 by the Maori Language Commission.
